Harbaugh, Stanford and 49ers’ potential last shot at him

-Couldn’t get much into the late-breaking news from Fox Sports and ESPN that the Miami Dolphins are pulling out of the Harbaugh Sweepstakes, which might leave it down to 49ers and Stanford for his services.

Even after that news, an NFL source told me late tonight that the 49ers are unlikely to go much higher than their informal figure of about $5M per over five years.

But the source also cautioned that Harbaugh’s camp, which includes agent David Dunn, has never given the 49ers an ultimate number to meet to guarantee a signing.

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If Harbaugh called the 49ers and said you have one last chance befoe I sign elsewhere (presumably Stanford), the 49ers probably would bump it up a little, I was told. Maybe. Hypothetically.

Of course, after I spoke to my source, Fox’s Jay Glazer reported that the 49ers were back in negotiations with Harbaugh, moving towards a $6M average salary, but he also said Stanford was raising its stakes, too.

In my view, the $6M level is about the proper threshold. The 49ers can’t allow Harbaugh to get away under most terms, but they absolutely will be at fault if they go to $5M… then lose him over another $1M annually.

That’s too short-sighted. Maybe the 49ers are already at $6M. I have no idea what Harbaugh will do.

Tomorrow should be nice and peaceful, just like the last three days.

—–the column/

When you chase Jim Harbaugh, as the 49ers, Dolphins and many others are learning too well, the target is elusive and the days are harrowing.

When you chase such a suddenly prized commodity, you are setting yourself up for either humiliation or the strong inkling that you are paying far too high a price in this auction.

And you will do a lot of waiting. For Harbaugh to call back. For Harbaugh to listen. For Harbaugh to, if it’s possible, finally agree to terms.

But that’s what Jed York’s 49ers have gotten themselves into, and there is no getting out of it now.

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They have committed to the Harbaugh Chase. They’ve admitted he is by far their No. 1 choice. They’ve set themselves up to succeed only if he agrees to terms.

And yes, the 49ers probably had the first true shot at getting him to sign, bid lower than expected, and could not close the deal.

So York and general manager Trent Baalke are stuck, like the other bidders—though Miami reportedly and shockingly dropped out of the hunt Thursday night.

The 49ers will either get Harbaugh or they will be in some bad bit of trouble.

And now it might be down to two: The 49ers or Stanford.

The Dolphins had their crack at Harbaugh on Thursday, and owner Stephen Ross left the Bay Area without a deal in hand. Ross never fired Tony Sparano and, according to Fox Sports, has decided to stick with Sparano.

The 49ers had their face-to-face with Harbaugh on Wednesday, couldn’t get Harbaugh to sign, and now wait and see what happens next.

Will the 49ers increase their last informal offer of about $5 million a year? Can they get another meeting with Harbaugh?

If they don’t get Harbaugh, can York and Baalke find an alternative candidate without looking like they’ve lost it all?

As of Thursday night, Harbaugh was still the Stanford coach, and multiple reports indicated that he had no made no firm decision about anything.

And yes, there were signals that Harbaugh is seriously considering Stanford’s latest rich proposal to keep him in Palo Alto alongside quarterback Andrew Luck for one more season.

That would be a Richter Scale shocker, given the huge numbers reportedly contemplated by NFL teams.

But with Harbaugh, anything seems possible.

What does this all mean for the 49ers’ pursuit and for their future?

It now looks clear that they entered the Harbaugh derby as his No. 1 option, but kicked it off as a disappointingly low bidder.

The 49ers originally offered about $4.5 million a year, according to a source. That’s a lot of money, but still strikingly less than $6-million-plus annual deal landed by Harbaugh’s rival, Pete Carroll, when Carroll went from USC to Seattle last year.

The moment Carroll got that contract, anybody who knew Harbaugh knew that, when he decided to go to the NFL, he would want at least as much as Carroll got and probably more.

And it was York who, on the day he fired Mike Singletary, said “money is no object” in the search for a new GM and coach.

To be clear, I was the one who prompted that answer, and I used the words “is money an object” in the query. So it’s not like York was determined to make a declaration about money. He just gave a quick answer.

But that was more evidence of public unpreparedness. If you say money is no object, you are going to be criticized if you under-bid on your No. 1 candidate.

And that was followed by York’s declaration that he would hire a GM first and foremost, which was followed by the clear conclusion that York actually wanted to hire Harbaugh, and was pushing Baalke ahead because York thought Baalke could help haul in Harbaugh.

And that was followed by a less-than-muscular money offer to Harbaugh, which probably opened the door for Miami or a return to Stanford.

Now it’s down to the 49ers or Stanford, which is not a tussle the 49ers can afford to lose without public embarrassment.

At some point, Harbaugh will make a decision. He might fall flat on his face where he lands, and if he does, he will be an incredibly expensive failure.

But the 49ers have to realize two things: They are the ones who committed themselves to this chase, and they are the ones who will deserve to be judged almost entirely on their success or failure at the end of it.

Tim Kawakami

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5 mil a year is a lowball offer? Give me a f**king break. That offer alone makes him one of the higher paid coaches in the NFL. And history tells us that most college don’t succeed at the NFL level.

Go Niners

FWIW to add to Mike Sing’s comment, NFL is pushing to up to 18 games per season.

stanfordfan

Cow, technically it’s York v. Hennessy… Hilarious, if you think about it…

qtlaw

The Niners (my beloved Niners of Brodie/Montana/Young) deserve to be ridiculed and go in the toilet for screwing this up so badly.

Harbaugh wanted to go to the Niners, the Niners wanted him. Should be easy. But wait, Jed York has NO IDEA what neighborhood Harbaugh is seeking??? How is that possible? Ridiculous. Yes it is Monty Python-esque.

If I was looking for $6.5m/per yr and the Niners offered $4.5, knowing that I’d never take that much less than Carroll, I’d be pissed too.

Now word is the Niners are not going much over their initial offer? Even after knowing the Dolphins offered $7M?? You paid Clements $11M last year yet you’re sweating $2M for the “face of the franchise?”

dave

its clear already that baalke was yet another idiotic move by the yorks. otherwise we would not have lowballed our prime candidate at a time when the franchise is in utter chaos. baaaalke is a yes man, through and through, and jed is afraid to hire someone with any stones because of his own insecurity, immaturity and ego. the entire organization smells of “pathetic loser”. there is a desperate need for something, someone, anything to change that. i dont think paraaaaaag or baaaaaalkkke or jeeedddd are the answer. in fact they are principals in the transformation of the organization from the best in all of sports to somewhere below the Clippers. so they need a huge, dynamic force to change the culture. Harbaugh just did that. indeed money should be no object. whatever they are paying nate clements, a coach that can change the culture is worth roughly 45X that number. i would pay harbaugh 13 million a year, if that is the guy they really think can change things. otherwise, jed, shut your doughy trap and just resign yourself to sucking in perpitude. really dont want to see you in front of the cameras talking Eddie D and Playoffs.

Niner

Wasnt it Ann Killion who called Jed out by saying he cant do squat without MOmmy , and that ” money is no object” was more York BS? Guess she nailed it on the head…. do you want to diss the guy who could potentially turn around this franchise because you wont give him at least what his rival ( Carrol) got???? We play the dude 2 times a year and he won the division. This team truly is penny wise pound foolish, or just plain cheap and ignorant like the rest of the league believes.

Mark M

more incompetence on Jed’s part…shocking. He totally set himself up for this. Tough lessons seem to be coming in bunches for this dude.

pdxcard

JH clearly wants to go to the NFL; it’s only a matter of when a decent opportunity is available. The Niners have a lot of outward appeal (NFC West, stay in Bay Area, Walsh connection, etc.)

However, I am guessing JH is having trouble shaking the notion that Jed & Co. are total clowns who will make it virtually impossible for him to win the Super Bowl someday. I am sure his brother has told him about the importance of a competent front office to have NFL success. Plus, the option of staying at Stanford until a better pro gig comes along has gotten a lot more appealing (Luck staying, more money).

I think this comes down to whether JH believes he can overcome/change the Niners’ FO culture. If not, then everything is going to be All Right Now (at least for another year).

Byron

This looks to me more like Dunn , Baalke and Harbaugh’s agent is trying to get the most money for Harbaugh since he already suckered the Niners into signing Baalke. Why would you accept the implication from an agent that “if you sign my client Baalke , my other client , Harbaugh will follow?? man , smells of an agent telling Jed: Come ‘ere little boy I have candies and a little puppy in my car” just flat out wrong but Jed..looks like you have been punked by Dunn. Bet you too he advised York to sing Baalke instead of Lombardi and that is the reason why you do not hire as a Contractor the same man is going to sell you the materials, either way he will screw you out of money.

http://thehealingfrequency.com/zeolite/ Zeolit

I agree with @Byron, That’s the way the deal looks like it’s getting DUNN! Hope he can pull it off, then it’s ok, if not then it will not look too pretty.

xyz

How about this? Both JH and Luck go back to Stanford. 49ers hire anybody as HC. Playing all the young players and loose every game next season to get number 1 pick. And then draft Luck and hire JH after next season. ………Then win 5 SB in a row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW. Is Jed smart enough to do this?

SR9er

So Kawakami is one of those full fledged “We Want Harbaugh” bandwagon member, but I’m am absolutely certain that if Harbaugh was to become the next Niner Head Coach and he fails miserably, Kawakami, along with Ray Ratto, and Lowell Cohn, will be the first to chastise Jed for the amount of money spent and absolute terrible hiring decision …………… mark my words.

Jethro of Pacific Heights

Jim Harbaugh and his agent are metaphorically making the Niner brass pick up the dropped soap in the pen’s shower. Once they reach for it, JH owns them and will snap his towel at their manhood.

Cardininers

I’m amazed that the 49ers offered Harbaugh about $2 million less than Carroll gets in Seattle. It seems pretty clear they’re not well informed about Harbaugh’s capabilities as a coach, his talent in devising offensive game plans, his contagious enthusiasm, or his competitive personality. Numerous former 49ers, including Brent Jones, are excited about Harbaugh being the new 49er coach. For all 49ers fans who doubts Harbaugh’s ability to coach in the NFL, I have just one question: If Harbaugh doesn’t get you excited, who will?

kawakami is terrible

Can anyone indicate how Harbaugh should be worth 6 mil a year? No NFL HC experience, no college championship experience. How is he worth more than Pete Carrol, who has both of those? How is he worth more than Mike Tomlin close to Sean Payton, young coaches with Super Bowl championships?

Singletary got 2.5 mil a year with nobody bidding against the Niners. Obviously it would take more to get Harbaugh here, but what’s he worth? How about if the Niners go up and blow 7 mil a year on a 5 year deal, and then win 5 games next year because they still don’t have a QB or a good defense and have a questionable offensive line? Or if Harbaugh just doesn’t have what it takes to out think good NFL coaches?

How many college head coaches and NFL coordinators are there? How many of them would want to be head coaches in the NFL? There’s only 32 jobs. How many of them that none of you have ever thought of or even heard of would be able to be successful in the NFL? A ton of them. Find one of those if Harbaugh thinks he’s worth 7 mil a year right out of the gate. Sounds like he has a bit of Jamarcus syndrome.

Haters to the Left

Harbaugh’s definitely going to coach the Niners…..My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who heard Harbaugh say so at 31 Flavors last night

Jethro of Pacific Heights

^^^ Hey that guy is the guy who sweeps the barber shop where Harbaugh gets his hair cut. He knows what’s going on!

hibcbcbc

Nothings changed. Jed STILL has to hire Harbaugh.

Did you see more leaks from Ninerland on Josh McDaniels today? They are going to hire a total **** up if they cannot get Harbaugh, and you all know it.

By the way, there is a reason NOBODY IN THE LEAGUE WANTS BRIAN BILLICK.

He won a SuperBowl because of Marvin Lewis’s defense. Billick’s offenses in Baltimore were TERRIBLE. Jim Hostler terrible.

Doesn’t it signal “redflag” that the minute they canned Billick Baltimore started to win again? (with Harbaugh’s brother by the way).

Billick is a tired heap of old bones with nothing in the bank.

Harold

How is Harbaugh worth more than Carroll? Um, possibly because he beat Carroll in two of the three games where they coached against one another. Carroll was a 43-point favorite playing at home, and Harbaugh had to start an untested second-string quarterback who’d thrown less than 10 college passes, and Harbaugh STILL beat him.